A two month-long program to capture and track sharks has wrapped up in south-west Western Australia, despite failing to tag a single great white.
The shark monitoring project is part of a two-year State Government program aimed at understanding the movements of the elusive great white.
The Department of Fisheries’ Mike Burgess says no great whites were tagged because they could not be found.
"White sharks are an apex predator, so the natural abundance in the environment is already very low," he said.
"We believe that the sharks are pretty transient along our coastline, …

Very little is known about giant manta rays, the world’s largest of the ray species reaching up to 25 feet wide. Now, in the first study using satellite tracking of the creatures, scientists have teased out a few secrets, including that the beasts travel a lot.

The new study tracked six manta rays — four females, one male and a juvenile (undetermined sex) — for two months off Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula.
"The satellite tag data revealed that some of the rays traveled more than 1,100 kilometers (621 miles) during the study period," …

Anglers like to have a idea of the weight of a good fish, especially if it appears to be a personal best or of specimen size, but of course most also realise the need to minimise any damage to the fish through keeping it out of the water too long.
Weighing fish by measuring them helps minimize any potential harm to the fish.
To help address this need we have developed a number of alternatives which will not only enable you to ‘weigh’ a particular fish but also gain an …

Marine scientists in the Isle of Man have received "last-minute" sponsorship for basking shark research.
The funding has come from both the Manx government and local finance company, Tower Insurance.
It will go towards a satellite tagging programme, which provides data about shark migration and feeding habits.
Jackie Hall from Manx Basking Shark Watch (MBSW) said the last-minute funding means two more sharks can be tagged and monitored in 2012.
She added: "When we started, no-one knew the behaviours or the understanding for the behaviours and patterns we are seeing.
"We, as a small group …

Recent discussions between SSACN and Sportvisserij Nederland (Royal Dutch Angling Association) highlighted the fact that there is an apparent northern migration of smoothhound – increasing numbers of the species being caught each year.
Whether the increased numbers are due to decreased competition for food as cod stocks have declined, decreased commercial pressure reducing the numbers taken as bycatch or northern waters getting warmer, is a matter for detailed research.
During the discussions it soon became apparent that as both parties had tagging programmes, that by working together in a collaborative manner we …

From news.scotsman.com
Steven Paterson, 48, became the first person in Scotland to be convicted of trading parts of endangered species.
The court was told that Paterson, a father of two, was caught after officials from the UK Border Agency came across his website.
Police then searched his home in Glenrothes, Fife, where they found hundreds of specimens including 517 shark jaws, 78 teeth, 16 skulls and a skin, pelt and claws.
Shona McJannett, prosecuting, said Paterson did not have a trading licence, but his site offered a number of items for sale. …

Exotic warm water marine species such as anchovy, bluefin tuna, stingray, and thresher shark are spreading northwards into British coastal waters, where average sea temperatures are now moving closer to the warmer conditions of southern Europe. (See this article from September 2011 detailing the sighting of a Thresher Shark near the Isle of Mann in the Irish Sea: http://www.tagsharks.com/thresher-shark-sighting-near-the-isle-of-man).
A new study by marine scientists discloses that many species, some better known to holidaymakers in the Mediterranean and the Canary Islands, are now increasingly commonly seen in the seas off …

On 04/05/12, the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA) seized about 7,7 tons of dried shark fins in Belém.
The shark fins, which were intended to be exported to China, were found during an inspection by IBAMA officers at a fish processing company in the Tapana Industrial District. The exporter failed to provide documents proving the sale or whereabouts of the shark carcasses. So it can be assumed that the fins are a product of illegal shark finning.
According to the agency, the company has repeatedly been fined …

Legend has it that large animals or monsters are thought to live in Loch Ness, but Bruce Wright of Alaska Despatch suggests that evidence has been mounting that the Loch Ness monster may, in fact, be a sleeper shark.
According to his recent article, the idea of sharks possibly using Loch Ness is not new, it’s long been one of the hypotheses explaining the Loch Ness Monster, but until now, nobody has suggested sleeper sharks, perhaps because they’re secretive and so rarely seen though those that are, are often consistent …

Great news for Scotland’s sharks.
Tope, as the commercial sector are now prohibited from catching them, join common skate and porbeagle in having the highest levels of protection in Scottish waters.
In a previous post we reported that the Scottish Government was looking to increase the protection of 26 species of Scottish sharks.
The necessary Statutory Instrument (SI) has now been created and comes into force today. It means vulnerable species of sharks, skates and rays in Scottish waters will have protection over and above that under EU legislation; hopefully this will encourage …